January 9, 2008
Despite Threats, Cuban Political Prisoners Use CAMBIO Bracelets

Baracoa, Cuba. January 9, 2008. Cuban Democratic Directorate.

In the last few months, the CAMBIO bracelets have converted into a popular way of demostrating discontent with the Castro regime in Cuba. The bracelets have even been able to make their way into Cuban prisons.

According to opposition leader, Keyber Rodríguez Fernández, officials of the Paso de Cuba Prison in Baracoa violently broke off the bracelets of Julián Antonio Monés Borrero, political prisoner and President of the Miguel Valdés Tamayo Movement on December 27, 2007. The officials that committed this act were José Barrios, warden of the prison, and Captains Suárez and Leonardo. They threatened Monés Borrero that he would be accused of “enemy propaganda” if he continued using the CAMBIO bracelets.

In the streets of Baracoa, Captain Michael Machado Navarro broke off a CAMBIO bracelet of opposition leader and human rights activist Eli Cadena on January 7, 2008. Cadena was wearing the bracelet as a symbol of civic resistance.

In prior months a group of young students were arrested in Havana for wearing said bracelets. It is evident that the word Cambio is an empowering symbol for all on the island.

Source: Directorio Democrático Cubano